I am slowly coming to the realization that the Orphan Care project in Ntcheu might have to be put on hold for a while. I have made countless phone calls at all hours of the night and day to malawi over these past few months. My Skype account is getting a very big workout. My friend Azikiwe and I have been in daily contact for a month trying to sort out the problems Mabvuto (whose name just so happens to mean “problems”) has created. Money has been taken from the account which has not been accounted for. The children were neglected by Mabvuto for a couple of months. He made it very difficult for Azikiwe to step in and help clear things up. He refused to answer calls, missed meetings, and was not forthcoming with information. He has topped emailing me altogether. He harvested the maize and it seems that not all of the maize that was in the field is now in the stacks ready to be shelled as they say.

I have finally realized that not all of this is my fault. How could I have known Mabvuto would turn out to be such a poor choice for a manager? I freely admit where I have gone wrong and will definitely not repeat these same naive mistakes. This whole process is about learning and growing and I believe I have done a lot of both.

I have contacted the Teacher’s Union of Malawi (TUM) and whey have decided to take disciplinary action against Mabvuto for his poor conduct in running the orphan care. TUM has also agreed, or rather insisted, to be involved in the selection of the next location and the future Board of Directors. The executive of TUM will be a great resource to me and to the future projects.

I have not yet decided what to do with the centre in Ntcheu. At this point, I am thinking about distributing the remaining maize among the families of the 9 children. I will speak to TUM members about setting up a trust fund to pay the secondary school fees of these 9 children so that their families don’t have to worry about that financial burden.

My plans for the future of Itatu can’t be solidified until I arrive and see what is happening. I feel some relief at having ideas of how best to continue to serve these children while still keeping myself safe and sane.

I am beginning to gather supplies to take with me. If you can donate anything from the list below, please do so. It would be greatly appreciated and I can guarantee it will be put to good use by those deserving and in need.

The items I hope to take include:
clothing of any size from infant to small adult
jewelry
crayons
markers
pencil crayons
pencil sharpeners
pencil cases (to put this stuff in)
hi liters
erasers
chalk
laser pointers
chalkboard brushes
sunscreen
sunglasses
old cell phones
postcards of areas of Canada

Thank you for your support and understanding. This winter was very difficult for me. I did a lot of self-blaming and felt very guilty but I have now accepted that these kids have had at least one year of being well fed and will have a brighter future than they might have without all of your support.

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